Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) notoriety is clearly spreading outside her district — not just as a star among conservatives, but as a menace to liberals. And now, a Democratic candidate in a different House district is invoking her name against the Republican incumbent there.
Maureen Hackett, a Democratic candidate against Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN), has sent out a new fundraising letter addressed to her fellow Democrats, blasting Paulsen for frequently voting the same way as Bachmann.
“While Bachmann’s extremism has won her great reviews from her right-wing base, it’s not acceptable here in the 3rd District,” Hackett writes. “We have a long record of electing reasonable people from both sides of the aisle. By standing with Bachmann on the economy, health care and women’s rights, Paulsen has proven time-and-time again that he’s hopelessly and completely out-of-step with the people he was elected to represent.”
The retirement in 2002 of Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) deprived Democrats of a long-time bogeyman in fundraising letters. It now looks like the new pantheon of right-wing menaces in Dem fundraising will include the likes of former White House adviser Karl Rove, former Vice President Dick Cheney, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin…and a second-term Congresswoman named Michele Bachmann.
